In July, you can count on two things: Hot weather and zucchini.
Lots and lots of zucchini. Too much zucchini. Farm stands and gardens are inundated with zukes right now but many cooks end up giving this hot weather veg short shrift because of its ultra-mild flavor and what is perceived as its limited uses. Au contraire.
Zucchini is as versatile as the potato because of its mild flavor; I like to think of it as a fibrous, filling, low-cal vehicle for all the other flavors in a dish (one of my all time favorite zucchini recipes is this knock out soup here). And when I have more zucchini than I can handle? I make this amazing Zucchini Relish from the cookbook I coauthored, Tart & Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen (Rodale, 2011).
Zucchini Relish (yield 6 pints)
3 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 pounds zucchini, peeled, seeded and shredded
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon brown mustard seed
1 tablespoon chili flakes
1/2 tablespoon celery seed
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.
Add the zucchini, mustard seeds, chili flakes, and celery seed. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, divide the zucchini among the hot, sterilized jars and top with the remaining liquid, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Check for air bubbles, wipe the rims, and secure the lids. Boil jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for elevation.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
For the past two years our zucchini has done z-e-r-o. Can you believe it! Nothing. Nada. Ziltch. But we do have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year. Lots of pickles and relishes this way.
Hi there Jessie K, just wanted to let you know I’m thoroughly enjoying your book and will probably review it on my lil blog either today (if I finish it) or by next Friday for sure. (Reviewing a book on Fridays is kinda my thing.) It’s nice to have a fresh and humorous (and real) view of living a country life. Cheers!
Awesome, thanks for the head’s up, Melanie!
Just finished it last night, so will post next Friday. Great read, Jessie, any chance you’ll be writing an update?
I LOVE zucchini! It’s a mystery to me why so many don’t. I like relish, zucchini bread, love it sauteed with onion or added to stir fries, grilled, and on and on. Did you know that you can even freeze the grated zucchini for bread in recipe portions? Just be sure to thaw it in a bowl and include the liquid in the recipe. Otherwise, the product will be dry.
Just ate this relish in my (canned) salmon salad sandwich today! It added a much needed twist to the Kodiak, Alaska equivalent of deer neck tacos. =)
Ooooh. Great timing! My zucchini is coming in nicely, and I hope/expect to be overrun at some point (think leaving them by night in neighbor’s mailboxes!). I’ve been freezing some for curries and stirfries, but this looks really yummy, and there is only so much room in the freezer ; ) Thanks a bunch!
Hi there, really excited to try this but have no brown mustard, any substitutes?, closest store is half hour away and that is walmart, dont know if they would even have it…
Hi Beth, I’d substitute yellow mustard seeds. I’m sure it’ll still taste great.
Hi Jessie! I made this last week and it is delicious! I’m wondering about the yield though. I had a 2.8lb zucchini from my garden, and figured that was close enough to 3 – but I only ended up with 3 and a half pints. Is the zucchini weighed after its peeled and seeded? I weighed it whole, and I didn’t measure how many cups of shredded zucchini I ended up with (and I’ve ended up with smaller yields on a couple other recipes too – blueberry lemongrass syrup and pickled beets. Maybe Canadian pints are different!!). thanks!
Hi Erin: In my experience, canning yields are all over the place, from the Ball book to The Joy of Pickling to River Cottage on down. A lot of it depends on how much moisture there is in the produce itself and how high your heat is and how long you cook it. As a general rule, I advise not getting too hung up on the exact amount, but try to have an extra jar or two on hand in event there is more than the recipe calls for. When I made a batch of the Zucchini Relish, I didn’t bother seeding or peeling it (I was too lazy) which definitely affected the yield.
Jessie, how long should one let the relish ‘cure’ before eating? Will the flavor intensify as time goes on?
Hi there, I’m really quite keen to try your zucchini relish recipe, but the link to the recipe seems to be broken…..
Thanks for letting me know, Sarah! I went in and corrected it. Happy relish making!
hi,
i live in new zealand and i love zucchini..
i can not find the best zucchini relish ever from your book tart and sweet. which iwill buy one day when i can.
i have a big pile of gorgeous zucchini and i need to make an amazing relich with them in the next few days.
can someone “pretty please” send me the recipe as i can access from the link above.
so many thanks in advance
gemma
Here you go! http://www.readbreathe.com/food/how-to-make-zucchini-relish/
Hi Jessie, what a lovely website you have!!
I’ve been looking for a “to die for” recipe for zucchini relish since the lovely old lady up the road gave me a sample from a jar that had been given to her. She barely gave me enough for one sandwich, but I was hooked just from the smell of it – delicious!!
It is zucchini season here in Australia and my garden is full of beautiful zucchini’s so I’d really like to try the recipe you have mentioned. Every time I click on the link it get the following message:
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access /food/how-to-make-zucchini-relish/ on this server.
Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS) Server at http://www.readbreathe.com Port 80
Could you please send me the recipe or correct the link (if the link is the issue -I’m not sure).
Keep up the great work and thanks again
Regards
Jodie-Anne Barlow
Echuca Victoria Australia